Croy Family Farms: Mid-season Report

Followers of mine on Twitter have no doubt
seen photos and periodic reports from “Croy Family Farms,” the tongue-in-cheek
name of my backyard garden. I’ve not written or chronicled some of the
experiences in any amount of depth, despite this (2014) being the third growing
season I’ve been gardening. Unlike previous years, this year I’m keeping much
better track of what is growing well, what isn’t, and what different plants are
yielding (with
photos).

Farm Layout/Information

The farm is unfortunately smaller than I would like, but is composed of five
above ground planting boxes. The boxes measure six feet by three feet with
about a foot of height (6x3x1ft)
and are filled primarily with Kellogg Garden
Soil
for flowers and vegetables. Many of the boxes have had assorted kinds of
top soil, manure and fishy smelling fertilizers mixed into the soil.
Unfortunately the natural soil in my neighborhood is very hard, dense and of
very poor quality. Prior to the first planting season, I had actually evacuated
the planting boxes of all the refuse soil and refilled them in their entirety with
the higher quality soil.

My location however couldn’t be more perfect for growing vegetables which
require a lot of sunlight such as cucumbers and tomatoes, which I’ve grown
with great success three years in a row.

The layout of the 2014 crops is as follows, note the boxes are numbered
extending from the house:

Box
1 (Corn)

Corn

Corn

Corn

Corn

Corn

Corn

Corn

Box 2 (Tomatoes)

Early
Girl

Early
Girl

Cherokee Purple

Sun Gold

Bush
Beefsteak

Cherokee Purple

Box
3 (Cucumbers/Basil)

Cucumber
(trellis)

Genovese
Basil

Cucumber
(trellis)

Sweet Basil

Cucumber

Apologies for the wonky formatted table which was exported from a spreadsheet.

I have a single broccoli plant in box #4 which bloomed before I could
harvest; now it only provides nectar to bees who I’m hoping are pollinating the
other plants.

There is also an immature avocado tree, a crab apple tree and an amazing
heirloom apricot tree (believed to be of the Moorpark variety) which produces
delicious fruit towards the end of the summer.

Finally there are three pots with:

Genovese Basil

Mint

Cilantro and Parsley

Planting

I planted a mix of sprouted plants (purchased) and grew some plants from seeds.

Growing bell peppers from seeds is rather
difficult and time-consuming. I managed not to get any to mature enough to
transplant to the outdoors. As a result, I have convinced myself that
growing bell peppers is a waste of time and energy.

Using those cone-shaped tomato cages is worth the effort when planting
cucumbers. Unlike last year, this year’s harvest of cucumbers has been very
easy. As a bonus side effect the gravity of cucumbers growing down from the
cages results in slender cucumbers which are a bit easier to store than the
short fat ones I used to harvest.

The difference between box #3 and box #4 as far as plant maturation and
growth is dramatic. Boxes 1-3 should have “needs full sunlight” vegetables
planted in them, while in box 4 only “needs partial sunlight” plants succeed.

Air-drying basil
in my area doesn’t seem to work. The leaves don’t manage to dry out enough
to crinkle and disintegrate into bits of basil.

Given the right quantity of gin and sun gold tomatoes
my co-workers can make quite a tasty summer cocktail.

Animals
love to lie in the stringy redwood-mulch covering I used to protect the soil
in the planting beds. Fortunately, lying some pipes or garden stakes in the
beds is enough to dissuade most farm animals.

While more time-consuming than using a garden hose, relying on the watering
can to water the plants has resulted in pretty consistent amounts of water
being delivered to the plants. The planting boxes retain water a little too
much, so use of the watering can has helped prevent me from accidentally
overwatering any plants this year. The first year I nearly killed some tomatoes by
overwatering, so this is progress.

Overall this has been a highly rewarding hobby, not just because it literally
rewards you with tasty food. At the beginning of the season there’s a modicum
of planning followed by working the soil and preparing for planting. Then
through the pre-harvest part of the season there’s relatively little effort
that needs to be expended on a daily basis; pulling weeds, watering, monitoring
the plants for bugs or other signs of pests. Finally once you can start to
harvest there’s a very direct reward for the work. I find myself wanting to
work more in the garden every time I harvest a few more cucumbers or
tomatoes.

Sometimes as my mind wanders I think about having a larger, more appropriately
named, farm in the future. I imagine what kinds of plants I might grow if I had
much more than just a few planter boxes. Debating whether I would need a green
house as well. Thinking about what will happen when my imaginary harvest becomes
too big for just me and my friends, and instead will need to be taken to the
local farmer’s market.

For now though, I’ll have to make do with the 60 square feet of earth that composes
Croy Family Farms.